Use of Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) of Wheat in Disease Resistance Breeding

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the three major cereal crops contributing 20% calories to the world
population. The most serious constraints to wheat production are biotic stresses like rusts, blights, powdery
mildew, bunts and smuts. Genetic or host plant resistance is the best way to control these diseases than use
of chemical pesticides. Continuous search for novel genes is indispensable to counter the dynamic and rapidly
evolving pathogen population. In case of some diseases like spot blotch, Karnal Bunt and Fusarium head blight
development of resistant cultivars is not an easy task as the resistance to them found in the germplasm is not
satisfactory and none of the commercial cultivars showed resistance. Hence, underutilized crop wild relatives
prove to be valuable resource in the search for new disease resistance genes to combat wheat diseases.